Mondeo traction issues
Discussion
After picking up an 04 Mondeo TDCi estate as a daily driver in the spring I've not done too much in the way of driving in the wet (work seems to have me out of the country when it's raining 
). However, of late I've been out in the wet more often and have noticed how shocking the traction in the wet is. Anything more than about 30% travel on the throttle will cause the wheels to spin in first, and again coming off roundabouts in the wet it loves to drive straight on if I'm anything more than cautious in 2nd. In the worst of the conditions I can make the front end loose grip in 3rd in a straight line. Please understand I'm not pushing hard at all when I start to loose traction and I don't have to try and provoke the car too much to make the front end go.
Now given I've never really driven a diesel before is some of this to be expected by the way it delivers it's 'power' and the fact that it's going to be heavier up front than a petrol car?
Does anybody else here have any experience of these cars in the wet?
In the dry the car feels fine and can be hustled along (in relative terms) and will grip more than happily. The tyres look ok although they seem to be a random economy brand, and the tracking and everything else seems to be ok. It's not perfect, but everything seems to be within limits that I would be content to drive anything else I've ever had.
So my main concern is the winter, when the roads become greasy, cold and maybe snowy. Do I go for a set of all season tyres (which I've read are worse than summer tyres in the wet) or do I have a 2nd set of wheels for the winter if this is the level of wet grip that I should expect.
). However, of late I've been out in the wet more often and have noticed how shocking the traction in the wet is. Anything more than about 30% travel on the throttle will cause the wheels to spin in first, and again coming off roundabouts in the wet it loves to drive straight on if I'm anything more than cautious in 2nd. In the worst of the conditions I can make the front end loose grip in 3rd in a straight line. Please understand I'm not pushing hard at all when I start to loose traction and I don't have to try and provoke the car too much to make the front end go.Now given I've never really driven a diesel before is some of this to be expected by the way it delivers it's 'power' and the fact that it's going to be heavier up front than a petrol car?
Does anybody else here have any experience of these cars in the wet?
In the dry the car feels fine and can be hustled along (in relative terms) and will grip more than happily. The tyres look ok although they seem to be a random economy brand, and the tracking and everything else seems to be ok. It's not perfect, but everything seems to be within limits that I would be content to drive anything else I've ever had.
So my main concern is the winter, when the roads become greasy, cold and maybe snowy. Do I go for a set of all season tyres (which I've read are worse than summer tyres in the wet) or do I have a 2nd set of wheels for the winter if this is the level of wet grip that I should expect.
theboyfold said:
The tyres look ok although they seem to be a random economy brand,
There's your problem.When I got my car ('05 1.8 petrol), front end grip was pretty pants, understeery and spinning away from every junction on wet days. Car was running fairly old Vredestein Hi-Trac tyres all round, fronts were about 2.5mm tread left.
Replaced the fronts with a pair of Hankook Ventus Prime (OE fit on my Mondeo, as the unused spare was one of those). No problems at all after that. Now it's difficult to make it lose traction at all, even in the wet. Now running 4 Primes, I decided the rear Hi-Trac had to go after a few tail-out moments on wet roundabouts.
As for winter, I got 4 16" steels off Ebay for £100, and fitted proper winter tyres (Dunlop Graspic DS3). I do have to battle some bad weather in the winter, as one of my weekly journeys is over the Glenshane Pass, where people got stuck in their cars in March due to the snow.
One final thought - Bridgestone are bringing out a PROPER All-weather tyre in October the Weather-Control A001, specifically for the UK. It looks like their Blizzak LM25 tread pattern, but uses a different harder compound so it'll not wear too quick in the summer. Might be worth waiting for those to come out.
http://www.blackcircles.com/news/2010/jul/bridgest...
There's also the Vredestein Quatrac 3 which are a good 4-season tyre, they get a decent following on here, too.
Mr Will said:
Find an empty, straight piece of road to try a high speed emergency stop on. Then, when you've finished swearing, buy some proper tyres.
That is exactly what made me worried. In the dry it's fine, but now I've got a few wet weather days under its wheels I'm starting to wonder what it will be like in an emergency.HellDiver said:
As for winter, I got 4 16" steels off Ebay for £100, and fitted proper winter tyres (Dunlop Graspic DS3). I do have to battle some bad weather in the winter, as one of my weekly journeys is over the Glenshane Pass, where people got stuck in their cars in March due to the snow.
One final thought - Bridgestone are bringing out a PROPER All-weather tyre in October the Weather-Control A001, specifically for the UK. It looks like their Blizzak LM25 tread pattern, but uses a different harder compound so it'll not wear too quick in the summer. Might be worth waiting for those to come out.
http://www.blackcircles.com/news/2010/jul/bridgest...
There's also the Vredestein Quatrac 3 which are a good 4-season tyre, they get a decent following on here, too.
I'm going to follow the same plan, after having a smash (not my fault I might add One final thought - Bridgestone are bringing out a PROPER All-weather tyre in October the Weather-Control A001, specifically for the UK. It looks like their Blizzak LM25 tread pattern, but uses a different harder compound so it'll not wear too quick in the summer. Might be worth waiting for those to come out.
http://www.blackcircles.com/news/2010/jul/bridgest...
There's also the Vredestein Quatrac 3 which are a good 4-season tyre, they get a decent following on here, too.
) in the snow last year, I think a decent set of winter tyres will be worth the money.It's amazing how much difference tyres can actually make I guess. I'm seriously fussy with what rubber I run on the Boxster, but with my daily drives in the past I've not really been too bothered. I think it's time to change that policy with this one...
theboyfold said:
It's amazing how much difference tyres can actually make I guess. I'm seriously fussy with what rubber I run on the Boxster, but with my daily drives in the past I've not really been too bothered. I think it's time to change that policy with this one...
During last year's snow, I was driving a 2WD Lancer. Winter tyres (225-45-18 Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme) changed the car from immovable to unstoppable. Even through -15C the car still went (though the thing was having serious issues in the cold, Mitsubishi need to winterise the Lancer a bit more).HellDiver said:
theboyfold said:
It's amazing how much difference tyres can actually make I guess. I'm seriously fussy with what rubber I run on the Boxster, but with my daily drives in the past I've not really been too bothered. I think it's time to change that policy with this one...
During last year's snow, I was driving a 2WD Lancer. Winter tyres (225-45-18 Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme) changed the car from immovable to unstoppable. Even through -15C the car still went (though the thing was having serious issues in the cold, Mitsubishi need to winterise the Lancer a bit more).Fiat Coupe turbo, changed the fronts from half worn Nankangs to Continentals and it went from being a liability, spinning up in 1st, 2nd and sometimes 3rd in the wet to grippy as hell, even in the wet, without being a pratt it wouldnt spin up, utterly amazing, like going fron 2wd to 4wd.
Wife's Galaxy, 11k miles Ford Direct Car, new tyres put on as part of their package as they were looking a bit knackered, some Budget Brand, again, wet grip was appalling, the wife comign in like Jensen button on a testing session saying that there was too much wheelspin and it ploughs stright on, put a full set of Goodyears on and its fine now, not as marked a difference as the Contis but the difference between constant wheelspin and understeer and not.
Wife's Galaxy, 11k miles Ford Direct Car, new tyres put on as part of their package as they were looking a bit knackered, some Budget Brand, again, wet grip was appalling, the wife comign in like Jensen button on a testing session saying that there was too much wheelspin and it ploughs stright on, put a full set of Goodyears on and its fine now, not as marked a difference as the Contis but the difference between constant wheelspin and understeer and not.
Mr Will said:
Find an empty, straight piece of road to try a high speed emergency stop on. Then, when you've finished swearing, buy some proper tyres.
You see people say that. However. I put Triangles on the front of the Vectra. Known to be about the 2nd worst tyre available to buy. When I had to do hard stops on the motorway, more often than not I would be getting off the brakes to avoid the guy behind me rear ending me all locked up. And on several occasion where I ran out of space to let them have they darted off sideways into other lanes desperately trying to keep control.Under braking wet or dry I found s
t tyres, me and the Vectra ABS to be better at stopping than most other setups on the road.However cornering and acceleration were shocking.
Yes a better tyre will stop you quicker. But it'll not stop the guy behind you. It will however let you pull away smartly. So that's where you need it. Not usually stopping. In my experiance.
Rob_F said:
It's the cheap tyres that are the issue. It can make an unbelievable difference - my mate ran his ST TDCI with 'wanlees' on for a while and it was a complete and utter pig.
Continental did very well in last weeks Autocar tyre test.
Cheers,
Rob
I've got a MK3 Mondeo TDCi and made the mistake of putting crap tyres on the front. In the rain it honestly felt like you were constantly cornering on ice.Continental did very well in last weeks Autocar tyre test.
Cheers,
Rob
I'll never buy cheap tyres again!
Munter said:
Mr Will said:
Find an empty, straight piece of road to try a high speed emergency stop on. Then, when you've finished swearing, buy some proper tyres.
You see people say that. However. I put Triangles on the front of the Vectra. Known to be about the 2nd worst tyre available to buy. When I had to do hard stops on the motorway, more often than not I would be getting off the brakes to avoid the guy behind me rear ending me all locked up. And on several occasion where I ran out of space to let them have they darted off sideways into other lanes desperately trying to keep control.Under braking wet or dry I found s
t tyres, me and the Vectra ABS to be better at stopping than most other setups on the road.However cornering and acceleration were shocking.
Yes a better tyre will stop you quicker. But it'll not stop the guy behind you. It will however let you pull away smartly. So that's where you need it. Not usually stopping. In my experiance.
Meoricin said:
Munter said:
Mr Will said:
Find an empty, straight piece of road to try a high speed emergency stop on. Then, when you've finished swearing, buy some proper tyres.
You see people say that. However. I put Triangles on the front of the Vectra. Known to be about the 2nd worst tyre available to buy. When I had to do hard stops on the motorway, more often than not I would be getting off the brakes to avoid the guy behind me rear ending me all locked up. And on several occasion where I ran out of space to let them have they darted off sideways into other lanes desperately trying to keep control.Under braking wet or dry I found s
t tyres, me and the Vectra ABS to be better at stopping than most other setups on the road.However cornering and acceleration were shocking.
Yes a better tyre will stop you quicker. But it'll not stop the guy behind you. It will however let you pull away smartly. So that's where you need it. Not usually stopping. In my experiance.
kers who can't drive on the motorway properly. The "i'll just change lane and brake hard" people are spread far and wide. So when you do ~30,000 miles a year they test you a few times a year.theboyfold said:
Anything more than about 30% travel on the throttle will cause the wheels to spin in first, and again coming off roundabouts in the wet it loves to drive straight on if I'm anything more than cautious in 2nd. In the worst of the conditions I can make the front end loose grip in 3rd in a straight line.
Is the TCS/ESP not kicking in? Crap tyres are a no no but I'd still expect the electronics to at least be trying.HellDiver said:
Dave_ST220 said:
Is the TCS/ESP not kicking in?
Doesn't kick in if it's not fitted. TC/ESP isn't standard on low end Mk3 Mondeos, and pre-facelift it was only an option on most models.Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff